Kiss Me, I am A Man, A Men(Amen), 2021

Installation, Polyester, Stainless Steel

Flg1800*1500mm, Flag Ploe(L)1542*(D)25.4mm, Flag Pole Ring(H)25.4*(D)33.02mm 

Kiss Me, I Am A Man, A men (Amen) (2021) presents a declarative message on inclusiveness and equality in order to visualize social hierarchies and inequalities based on gender and sexual orientation. The work consists of a text and a color field based on Korea’s traditional obangsaek spectrum (blue, red, yellow, white, and black). A national and cultural symbolic system is evoked as the white recalls fluid presences that cross boundaries of identity, while blue and red conjure the pattern of the taegeuk. The text in black reveals the social and political oppression and inequality directed at LGBTQ+ people, and the yellow reflects the desire for change and future hope. The flag’s slogan—“Kiss Me, I Am A Man, A men (Amen)”—represents a linguistic device where meanings are juxtaposed through the repetition and variation of similarly sounding words. The declaration “I Am A Man” emphasizes autonomy of identity and dignity, while “A men” subverts the power structure of the multitude. The “Amen” critically evokes discrimination that has been legitimized in the name of religious and moral norms. The linguistic transformation subverts social standards of normalcy as it affirms LGBTQ+ people’s existence as members of society. The work is positioned on the outer wall of the gallery entrance, where the process of the flag slowly fading and changing shape with time alludes metaphorically to the way in which social perspectives relating to LGBTQ+ people—including oppression, omission, resistance, and redefinition—have undergone constant recalibration with different eras and contexts. The changing of the flag hints at the variability and future-oriented possibilities of social perceptions, providing a symbolic representation of how the value of “equality” is written and redefined in time.